Improvement in rotary diggers



' UNITED STATES i PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN GORDON, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROTARY DIGGERS.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN GORDON, of Taunton, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Diggers; and I do hereby declarethat the following. is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a sectional side elevation of my invention; and Fig. 2, a plan or top view of the same, one side of the machine being cut open in the plane indicated by the line :1: x of Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed 'to describe it with reference to the drawings.

The main or'driving cylinder A is secured to an axle, B, which has its bearings in the sides of the frame O.' Said sides consist of metallic cases a, the rear ends ot' which are inclined downward at an angle of about twenty degrees, more or less, and these rear ends form the bearings for the axle D of the (liggingcylinder E.

From the front parts of the cases a two arms, b, extend in a horizontal direction, and to these arms the draft-bar c is hinged by pivots d. The position of this draft-bar is regulated by a lever, e, which is pivoted on an upright, f,

that is firmly secured to a cross-bar, g, connecting the arms b. One end ot' this lever is hinged to thel drafthar, and its other end is loose,'in suoli a manner that by depressing the loose end of the lever the draft-bar is raised, and vice versa. The draft-bar is held in the desired position by a pin passing through it and through the uprightf, said upright heiligprovided with several holes, according to the various positions of thc draft-bar. By these means the draft-bar can be adjusted to suit the height of different draft-animals, or, with the same draft-animals, to regulate thc relative position ofthe two cylinders, for it is obvious that by raising the draft-bar (the height of the draft-animals being considered uniform) the digging-cylinder is raised out of the ground, and by depressing the draft-bar the diggingcylinder is also depressed. Thus thedepth to Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 34,751, dated March 25, 1862.

lwhich said digging-cylinder acts on the ground can be regulated at pleasure. v

The two cylinders A and E are connected by gear-wheels h t' kl, the wheel It being tirmly secured to thc axle ot' the driving-cylinder A,

vand the wheel l to that of the digging-cylinder.

E,while theintermediate wheels,i k,run loosely on pins t" 7c. All of said wheels are inclosed in the cases c, so that they are perfectly protected lagainst dirt or rubbish, whichy otherwise would be liable to interfere with their motion.

The two cylinders Aand E are hollow, their round surfaces being constructed of series of slats that are firmly bolted to ianged disks, which form the heads of the cylinders, and which 'are rigidly attached to the axles. The object of this manner of constructing the cylinders is to facilitate the attachment of the tines or teeth, said teeth passing through the slats, and being secured on the inside by keys or bolts before the slats are fastened to their respective heads.

'lhe tines m of the driving-cylinder A and the teeth n of the digging-cylinder B arearranged in such relation to each other th-.it those ot' one cylinder pass between those ot' the other, and said tines and teeth are of such length that thc points ofthe tines m nearly touch the surface of the cylinder E, and the points ot' the teeth n come close up to the surl'ace of the cflinder A. By this disposition of the tines and teeth the surfaces of the cylinders and the spaces between the teeth are kept clean of dirt or rubbish, and the clogging of the machine is prevented'.

The gear-wheels h and l on thel axles` of the two cylinders are connected bythe intermediate wheels, t' and k, in such a manner that the two cylinders rotate in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows marked on the same in Fig. l of the drawings, and the number ot' cogs on said gear-wheels is so calculated that. the digging-'cylinder rota tes at a high velocity. It' the digging-cylinder E was made t0 rotate in the saine direction with the d living-cylinder,

each row of teeth would come down on the ground with a blow, whereas by rotating the digging-cylinder in a direction opposite to that of the ,driving-cylinder each row of its teeth digs under and lifts the ground, taking hold of the ground at a point andsgradually entering the sa me as the machine is moved forward. Thus arranged the machine turns smooth' and regular and without those concussions that are inevitable it' the digging-cylinder rotates in the same direction with the driving-cylinder; and, furthermore, if' the digging-cylinder would rotate in the same direction with the drivingcylinder the digging -teeth would throw a large quantity of dirt 0n' and against the driving-cylinder, which would considerablyimpede the motion of the machine, and at the same time produce an uneven and 'rugged surface of the ground.

The points of the digging-teeth n are rounded and curved, as clearly shown in the drawings, and said teeth are arranged in spiral lines or in rows in such a manner that the teeth of each row stand between th 1 teeth of the ad joining rows, and it' the cylinder receives a rapid rotary motion said teeth enter the ground and lift and turn it over, much like an ordinary hand-spade.

By this arrangement of the two cylinders A and E and of their respective tines and teeth a diggin g-machine is produced which combines the work of a plow and harrow.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i 1. The combination of the draft-bar c and adjusting-lever c with the bar g, upright f, arm b, and side cases, a, as and `for the purpose shown and described.

2. The arrangement of the cylinders A E with each other and with the gears h t k l, as shown and described.

EDWIN GORDON.

Vitnesses:

AUGUSTUS CROGKER, HENRY WILLIAMS. 

